About Me

I'm a mom with two teens, finding the time to create every day. I love color, whimsy, liberated quilting, soothing hand knits and now handspinning! I love to read all my comments, but don't always have time to answer them. Please know that I appreciate each and every one. Please do not use my words or photos without my permission. Thank you for visiting!

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December 2009

December 31, 2009

I am thrilled to be rounding out the year with another BIG finished project. This ripple blanket was started way back in July '07! Who knew it would take me 2 and half years to finish? I like that this project didn't have a deadline, but there were some long stretches where it was in hibernation.

I had a great time picking each color as I went along. I love the randomness of it.

I think it's funny how this next photo looks so blue because I don't notice that in the finished blanket.

Scrabble would agree, it's a very good thing to have this done and available for snuggling.

The blanket measures 40" x 61" and has 81 stripes. Each stripe is composed of 2 rows of the pattern. The pattern is Soft Waves in the 200 Ripple Stitch Patterns book, by Jan Eaton. I used an E crochet hook and various wool and alpaca dk and sport weight yarns.

I hope you are having a very Happy New Year where ever you are! May 2010 hold new and exciting adventures.

December 27, 2009

Well, as you can see there, it's not all handmade, but a good proportion was. Including these socks which Ryan loves. I've been hesitant to make him socks when he goes through them almost instantaneously, but it was time. This yarn is a mill end from Blue Moon Fiber Arts and the only problem with it was all the slubs and knots. Usually the mill ends are not bad at all.

He's been wearing them constantly!

Chloe got a lot of little presents (delivered by train) including a couple of Doctor Who inspired necklaces given to her from her grandparents and made by an Etsy seller (The Clay Pony).

Chloe, Ryan and I also got hand knit socks made by my sister! That was a surprise. Chloe is wearing hers in the above picture. The other two are below.

Chloe's hand carved Santa tradition continues with this addition to the collection. I was so excited. I really didn't expect her to make another one! In the above photo, the three in the front are made by Chloe over the years and the Santa on skis is made by my dad.

It was an even greater surprise to find out that she made hand carved Santas for both my sister and my mom too! They had been talking about how much they loved mine at dinner, so it was quite funny when they opened their very own!

Chloe also made this great calendar for my dad. She photoshopped him in with some of his favorite scientists like Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking and added quotes. Dad really liked it!

Even though we couldn't spend Christmas with my brother's family, we were together in spirit. I got this ring engraved with Chloe and Ryan's names. Chloe got a pair of beautiful handmade earrings.

I always struggle with finding an interesting machine quilting pattern. I like this one though, which I just did on the fly.

These two little Christmas snugglies for my nieces will hopefully be well used over the years.

It's always great fun to see all the secret projects that crafty people have been making in the months leading up to Christmas. I hope you've enjoyed mine! Now I have a totally free week and plan to spend it catching up on sleep, reading, and, what else- knitting, quilting and spinning! Cheers!

December 22, 2009

How about a little bit of knitting? I got this scarf done just in time to send in to the Red Scarf Project. This is a quick and easy pattern called The Corrugator. It makes a lovely, squishy scarf that should be very cozy. I did have a bit of trouble with the red dye running when I blocked it, so I added a bit of vinegar and it stopped right away.

The scarf and a couple of gift cards were mailed out today. And good news, if you would like to make one there is still time. They have extended the deadline to the first week of January. I can highly recommend this pattern, but the Ravelry group has a whole list of other nice patterns too.

So, if the before Christmas deadline was too hard to meet, now you've got the week after Christmas to do it! Happy Knitting!

December 21, 2009

Last week we had took a trip to Atlanta for a very special reason. Unfortunately, I can't divulge that reason just yet, but I did want to show some photos of our search for Christmas. The city didn't seem to be much in the spirit, but we did find some pockets of festive sights.

These are at the Coca-Cola museum, which has a lot of Christmas themed exhibits. I think this Santa would fit right in my carved Santa collection.

We had the most fun on this street in the Atlanta neighborhood of Buckhead. I didn't catch the name of this street, but it must be pretty famous what with all the incredible mansions lining the street. We were amused by the over-the-top decorated mailboxes. I don't know that I've ever seen a Christmas decorated mailbox in our neck of the woods. Each one was better than the last!

This mansion has to be the pinnacle though. It looks so stately.

On our last evening we splurged on a night out at the fabulous Fox theatre for an Atlanta Ballet production of The Nutcracker. This theatre is just gorgeous- definitely worth taking time to see. The production was just what we needed to feel in the Christmas spirit.

These last two photos are here at home today. Ryan and his friends decorated and devoured our Solstice cake. Another trip around the sun. Hope you all had a lovely day too!

My sister and her husband are here for Christmas. They are staying with my parents, but we'll be doing a lot of activities with them throughout the week. Today we all headed to the Sunriver Resort's Gingerbread Junction to see the amazing houses. The one above was on a swivel, so when it was turned you could see the amazing artistry on the inside.

This is all created with fondant!

The next one is the story of the three pigs and if you look closely at the tree on the right you can see the big, bad wolf trying to sneak his way in!

I love this tree house below.

If you are a fan of the movie, "A Christmas Story", you'll love this next house. All the details are there!

The boy with his tongue stuck to the pole, the little brother in the huge snow suit.

There's Ralphie fighting the robbers and the pink bunny suit. The green stuff is a bit of the siding falling off. That's what you get when you wait too long to see the display.

And the piece de resistance- the leg lamp. That was a fun little outing and afterwards we had a nice dinner at our house. We've got more plans for the week, including a little snow play, some shop hopping and the usual Christmas Eve, Christmas Day activities. More to come later!

December 11, 2009

Chloe took these beautiful photos after the snowstorm last week. I especially love this second one. On another note, I just got an email from the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show. They've already got some information up for next year's show, including the block contest, the theme contest and some exciting new events. Check it out!

Above, an indoor snow scene at my Mom and Dad's house. Below, an outdoor snow scene in the Cascades. Dad and I went skiing at Dutchman Flat last week. It was beautiful, but I fell too many times to count. Next time I'm heading for the groomed trails!

This week has turned out to be another unexpectedly crazy week. I guess I should expect the unexpected. Today will be a bit more relaxed though. The snow at home remains, but temps are warming up a bit. It still got down to about zero last night. Even though I don't like the extreme cold I do like it when the snow stays around and doesn't get all slushy and dirty.

December 07, 2009

We have a local flicker family with at least 10 members. When this extreme cold started the other day I headed out to provide as many calories as I could for them. Above, if you look closely, you'll see 6 flickers on the juniper tree. It was really interesting this morning, when I looked out to find these flickers clinging to the tree and not moving at all. I've never seen that behavior at all. It seemed like they were sleeping or enjoying the sunshine. In a few minutes they started moving, eating and eventually flying away for a bit before coming back for another bite to eat.

The Bark Butter I've started using is a huge hit. You can see a bit of it just above the knot in the tree. They are also enjoying the peanut feeder, the suet feeder and a mixed seed feeder.

We also had some interesting tracks in the snow this morning.

Flicker tail above. And tonight it's minus 15 degrees! I think this is the coldest weather we've experienced here in the last 5 years. So, out to the feeding station I'll go again tomorrow to give the birds another chance at survival!